Bright Souls
by turtleabby
Summary: Castiel has lost faith in heaven and humanity. Souls aren't as bright as they used to be, and heaven has fallen into anarchy. Only one thing can pull Castiel out of this spiral of despair.


Above the illustrious state of Kansas, a single cloud drifted by. The slight breeze ruffled the wheat grass in the farms below, and the sun rose over a small town on the horizon. Nobody knew it yet, but that town was going to be famous. With the angels, that is. In the human world, Lawrence was only a name on a birth certificate.

Atop this lonely cloud sat an angel, seeking a break from his brothers' constant bickering. Castiel lay on his stomach, pensively gazing at the rolling landscape below.

Every so often, a small light would flash in one of the farmhouses. Some were bigger than others, but all were just… average. Castiel still remembered asking his brother, Gabriel, what those lights were, centuries and centuries before you or I were born.

 _"_ _Gabe, why do those lights keep flashing?" A young Castiel had said, grasping his older brother's finger with his small hand._

 _"_ _Cas, those are the birth lights." Castiel cocked his head a gave the other angel a questioning look. Gabriel sighed and elaborated. "Every time a human is born, their soul lights up. That's what you see flashing." He pointed to a small flicker on the Earth below them. "See that? That was a soul. But it was so dim because the person it belonged to is going to be a complete bitch when they grow up." Castiel didn't answer. So the two angels sat with legs dangling over the edge of a cloud, content in each other's company. After a few minutes, another light flickered off to the right, about the size of what you and I would see as a pitching mound in a baseball game. "Look. That one was bigger. It probably belongs to some typical person, not perfect but not so bad either." Finally, a big light flashed directly below them, the brightness swallowing up five houses in every direction. "See? That was probably a priest or something."_

 _Castiel looked down at Earth, at the light show that was constantly going on. "But how do you tell who they belong to?"_

 _Gabe smiled. "Tune into the frequencies." This is what would later be dubbed as 'angel radio'. Castiel moved through the different 'stations' until he stopped at one he'd never heard before. Gabe nodded, indicating that Castiel had located the correct one. Another light flashed, slightly bigger than that of the so-called priest. "Simon de Monfreut has been born,"_ _a deep voiced boomed in Castiel's ears._

 _He looked back up at Gabriel. "Who's that?"_

 _Gabe shrugged and smirked. "I've got no fucking clue."_

Castiel sighed and watched that small town from the horizon move closer and closer, the houses on the outskirts just barely in focus. Occasionally, another soul would light up in one of the scattered farmhouses. But none were larger than the size of a dinner platter.

Most of the angels had already lost hope. The usual size of the lights had steadily decreased as the years dragged by and the integrity and moral of humans plummeted. Maybe that was why God had left all those years ago.

Soon after that, Gabriel had left as well, leaving Castiel nearly friendless in heaven. He occupied himself with his duties as being part of the garrison. But slowly, even his commanders had grown pessimistic. Almost nobody went on missions to Earth anymore; they were content to watch the decaying human race from a safe distance.

Castiel had always found this wrong, somehow. He didn't see why the angels didn't interfere. After all, if anyone was to blame for the tainted souls, wasn't it them? They hadn't intervened in human affairs for so long, Castiel wondered if he was the only one that still cared. They didn't answer prayers anymore, and they didn't even bat an eyelash when tsunamis hit and earthquakes occurred. And after all of the conspiring the archangels were doing about the apocalypse, Castiel began to despair.

So that was how Castiel had found himself seeking refuge on a wisp of cloud drifting over Lawrence, Kansas. He stared at the souls below, when suddenly, a miracle happened.

The brightest light you've ever seen exploded across the land, reaching far beyond the horizon, and Castiel assumed that it had enveloped the whole Earth. Blinking spots out of his eyes, he tuned into angel radio as quick as possible, flipping through channels. He caught small bits of what angels were saying:

"Did you see that?"

"That was the brightest soul I've ever seen!"

"Where did it come from?"

Who does it belong to?"

And finally, "That's exactly what humanity needs: a righteous man."

At last, Castiel reached the channel he'd been searching for, the one that Gabriel had shown him all of those years ago. And the loud, deep voiced boomed out into angels' ears all over heaven:

 _"_ _Dean Winchester has been born."_


End file.
